Bersih 4: Govt bans wearing of Bersih 4 T-shirt

It is now illegal to wear a Bersih 4 T-shirt after the government this evening officially gazetted them as "undesirable" items.

According to the order issued by Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, any yellow clothing which carried the word 'Bersih 4' and any printed material and pamphlet which leads to Bersih 4 are now illegal.

The materials were included into a schedule of prohibited items.

"The printing, importation, production, reproduction, publishing, sale, issue, circulation, distribution or possession of the publication described in the Schedule which is likely to be prejudicial to public order, likely to be prejudicial to security, likely to be contrary to any law and likely to be prejudicial to
national interest are absolutely prohibited throughout Malaysia," read the order.

The executive order was uploaded on the Attorney-General's Chamber's website this evening.

The ban came just a day before the Bersih 4 rally tomorrow which is expected to extend for 34 hours.

"This order may be cited as the Printing Presses and Publications (Control of Undesirable Publications) (NO.22) Order 2015," it read.

The order was made under Section 7(1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.

Under Section 7(1) of the law, the minister has absolute discretion by order published in the gazette to prohibit any material deemed prejudicial to public order, morality, security or that that will alarm public opinion.

Maria says to wear T-shirts anyway

In an immediare reaction, Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah (photo) said there was nothing wrong for people and activists to wear the yellow Bersih T-shirts.

"I would like to say, there is nothing wrong in wearing the Bersih t-shirts," she said.

"We are not going to the streets to defy the government but instead to demand for reform. We want an advancing Malaysia.

"By coming out, we are demanding that the government correct worsening political and economic situation so everything will be back on the track," she told Malaysiakini.

She called on Malaysians to bravely don their yellow t-shirts as a manifestation of their demand for change in the country.
"This is the decision we have to make," she said.

Malaysians have to rise up now or they risk facing the same problem half-a-century from now with regards to draconian law and a corrupt system.

Maria also said she was confident that the government will fail in its an intention to dampen the spirit of the Bersih 4 mega-rally tomorrow.

"Beside intimidation, they hope Bersih 4 will fail, but that is not going to happen," she said, adding a huge crowd will turn out for the rallies in three cities tomorrow.

The Home Ministry banning of the Bersih 4 tshirts is laughable and it is a show of a desperate government's inability to deal with diverse views.

Little does the Home Ministry realise that Malaysians have broken barriers and are able to deal with the culture of fear created by those in power, politics of race and using religion to divide and rule.

The demands of Bersih 4 printed on the tshirts are the people's call for democratic reform.

We cannot go on having a failed political system that breeds corruption and an ailing econony.

This is the time for every Malaysians to make a stand and demand for rationality.

Be there and be proud of the Bersih 4 tees as it is a symbol of our fight to bring a sense of justice and stabilty to this beloved nation of ours.

The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH 2.0) is proud to announce that the 34 hours Bersih 4 peaceful assembly in KL, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and over 70 cities around the globe has victoriously achieved its purpose.

The people’s presence in Kuala Lumpur, which we estimate at about 500,000 over the span of 34 hours is a loud and clear show of support of our demands. The rakyat has overcome fear and intimidation, and has proven that the call for institutional reform crosses every line of race and religion.

Now begins the even harder work of getting the reforms going, as well as insisting on the resignation of the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

We have repeatedly asked the people during the peaceful assembly to speak directly with their MPs to move a vote of no confidence against the Prime Minister, and this must go on. That’s a promise from bersih 2.

The BERSIH 2.0 Steering Committee would like to thank the endorsing NGOs, volunteers, program cmmtee medical team, security team, the performers especially Bangsa’rt; the legal team and the Bar Council, the program committee, local overservers from Proham and Suhakam and also international monitoring bodies such as ICJ and HRW who came in full force.

We also would like to thank media for going through the 34 hours having to sleep on the pavement together with the international media.

Our thanks also to the churches and temples and the imams who led the daily prayers.

We would like to say thank you to the police for their help, namely Dang Wangi OCPD Zainol Samah, Dep. OCPD Habibi, DSP Gurbinder Singh. It should be emphasized that this is the first Bersih rally with no police abuse of power or brutality, as compared to the previous rallies.

We would like to reiterate that the duty to ensure public order and security lies with the police, with the organisers playing a facilitating role.

Our heartiest thanks to city dwellers, the traders, the restaurants and shops who gave free food, water and use of their restrooms and generously donated for the cause.

Not forgetting the political parties and their MPs for supporting and endorsing our demands.

We also would like to put on record that the arrests made on Rumah Api where 113 youth were arrested is very unfortunate. They were victimised to instill fear. But despite efforts to fail Bersih4, the crowd stood at 500,000 over 34 hours, with donations totalling up to RM2.45 million.

We would like to say a special thanks for the ordinary people of Malaysia who contributed in every way possible to make the historic 34 hours peaceful assembly a huge success. Malaysians at Bersih 4 have conducted themselves extremely well, helped out eachother, and cleaned up the streets as they left.

We would also like to inform the public that the urgent arrest, medical and legal aid numbers have all ceased to operate.